moons

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of moon.

   Saturn's largest moons include Titan and Enceladus.

   Astronomers have catalogued dozens of moons beyond the asteroid belt.

   Note

   There is only one Moon in our own sky, so talking about moons uses the broader sense: any planet's natural satellite. The plural can also count time, and measuring it in moons instead of months belongs to literary style. It serves the shape senses too: crescents stitched on a banner, or the crescent-shaped outworks of a fortification.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of moon.

   He moons about the office, gazing out the window when he should be working.

   Every spring she moons after a romance that ended years ago.

   Note

   One spelling covers very different verbs, and what follows it tells them apart. With a direct object it is usually the prank: he moons the passing bus. Followed by over or after, it means infatuation; with about, idle drifting. The prank and infatuation readings are colloquial. The same spelling is also the noun plural, and a subject in front of it shows that the verb is meant.

   At the reunion he moons the photographer as a joke.

   She moons over every letter he sends.

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